


Second Chances

by thewugtest



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Bonding!, Gen, Inigo Mod
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewugtest/pseuds/thewugtest
Summary: You can't pick your family. You can't pick your destiny. Sometimes, you can't even pick your friends.In which Eliane, unknowingly Dovahkiin and knowingly roguish, runs into a future companion and refuses to accept that he will no longer be traveling alone.





	Second Chances

Eliane had never wanted to like Inigo.  
  
He'd given other khajiit a wide berth for years. His mentor's death had worn on him, and he had no reason to form a rapport with the caravans. He, an orphan since childhood and one who had never seen Elsweyr, had nothing in common with them besides his looks. He lacked even the accent and figures of speech his brethren used. And whether intentionally or not, that had worked out well for him. Being the educated, charming khajiit was a surprisingly good schtick. It'd gotten him out of trouble countless times, and into trouble a few more - but that was fine by Lia. He loved trouble.  
  
 _Trouble_  was not the feeling he'd come upon when he read the note upon the table in the Riften jail. In fact, he had been hoping desperately that it was trouble, because that would be better. In a guard's messy handwriting, there was a suggestion toward the end of the notice that if they were ever to find this "crazy khajiit" in a "particularly suicidal mood" they were to go in and stop him. That was not the kind of suggestion that foreshadowed good things. But Lia had a date, so to speak, with Sibbi Black-Briar, and he wouldn't leave the man waiting. Even as he'd entered the jail, he could hear a voice a few cells down he strongly suspected was the cat in question. Morbid curiosity mixed with pity in his heart, a feeling that was wholly unwelcome. Lia was an adventurer. He'd broken free of life as a bandit not a full moon ago, and had since become himself. He was charming, fancy-free, a rogue by any name! He was not the sort of man to feel pity.  
  
But he had taken the key in the broken lockbox, hadn't he? His hand had brushed by the cold bars of a cell. So he'd found himself, almost against his own will, opening the prison cell and seeing what all the fuss was about. The look on Inigo's face (and Inigo, Lia thought, had to have been about his own age - too young for this look) was devastating. His voice was worse. Lia had no idea who this man was or how he was being mistaken for someone he wasn't, but as Inigo requested. . . No,  _begged_  for death, he'd looked and sounded like he was going to cry. The despair was so certain and honest that it was difficult to face.  
  
So, yes, Lia had taken the poor bastard with him. He wasn't who he was being mistaken for, but Inigo was surely not about to be convinced. He was in no state of mind to learn it, either. The pity, like a chill he could not shake, crept up upon Lia again and again; it was the least he could do to take Inigo with him. To relieve him of that cold, poorly lit cell in Riften. He'd been counting on the fact that the man could fight, and as it turned out, he could hold his own quite well. That was. . . Well, an added perk. But even still, Lia refused to warm up to him. He was the lone adventurer. The second things cleared up and he could find a place to properly drop his blue acquaintance off, he'd do it. That was what he'd decided.  
  
His few years making his own way, and more recent stint as a bandit, had afforded him rather impressive stamina. Lia didn't sleep often, preferring instead to get uncomfortable shut-eye on the road when possible and to otherwise bide his time making tea rather than cooking a meal. He'd been taught a particular recipe for an energy-boosting brew by his late mentor, and never quite let go of it. He was going, always going, and rarely stopped to settle. This was simply the way he was, and it had worked wonderfully when he'd been alone.  
  
But now, after the long trip to Solitude with little to no real rest, he was thinking it might be alright to stop. He felt fine, for the most part. It was Inigo who he thought may need the break. At the end of their last run-in with a group of bandits, he'd seen the man stumble a bit. Seen his hands shake. And Lia wasn't worried, no. He was not worried. He'd just noticed that it was beginning to wear on his companion, that was all. He'd all but shaken the thought from his head, as he didn't speak to Inigo much, as the late night faded into early morning over Haafingar. A brief excursion onto the Solitude docks had yielded nothing of interest, thanks to the lack of expensive cargo stored on them, but he had at least learned he was still as good at sneaking about as he used to be. Inigo wasn't half bad himself.  
  
Inigo was also looking tired. He hadn't complained even once this entire trip, but the lack of ease in his step was beginning to show more and more. Admittedly, Lia didn't suspect he was making it any easier to deal with. He wasn't talking with him, was rarely checking in, and had only spared a glance back or a comment with his usual charming mask when Inigo thought to share what was on his mind. Maybe it looked to Inigo like Lia was still angry about what had supposedly happened between them. He wasn't. He wasn't angry about anything that had or hadn't happened. He just. . . Didn't want to get attached. Not to someone like Inigo, who had been vulnerable with him so quickly, who was loyal and honest. And that wasn't Inigo's fault. It was his own.  
  
Lia's claws dug into the palm of his hand and he winced before unclenching his fist, having hardly noticed he'd come to a stop toward the top of the stairs. The sun would rise soon. He could see it on the horizon, the darkened sky beginning to fade into a muddy, budding orange where the day began to press. The sharp, cold morning air of Haafingar felt like an impulse. A decision to be made. He turned with eyes newly alight, unaware of the spark within them, to Inigo, who had halted a few paces back in curiosity.  
  
"How long were you in that cell, Inigo?" he asked, more suddenly than he had spoken to him in the past, tilting his head.  
  
"Ah, well. . ." Inigo's eyes cast down a moment as he hesitated, one ear flicking in uncomfortable guilt. He found himself uncertain of even that. The time had felt so much the same until his release. "Long enough, my friend."  
  
Lia was clearly not looking for the real answer to that, instead opening up for something else. He took a step toward Inigo deliberately, for the first time since he'd entered the cell in Riften, his own ears pricked up excitedly. "Long enough that I bet you haven't seen a sunrise in moons. And never in Solitude. Follow me." He gave a jerk of his head in the direction of the path and moved ahead at a pace not quite a jog, a grin playing at his lips. Inigo, perplexed, let out a quiet affirmation behind him and tried to keep up. He had no idea what his friend was getting at.  
  
They came to an unfenced portion of the path adjacent to an otherwise inaccessible spot on the roof of the building at the docks. Upon it already was a chair, as if someone had found it long before them. And without hesitation, only sparing a glance back to his companion, Lia leapt the distance to the rooftop. Out of habit but not necessity, the jump concluded in a short roll, and then he sprung to his feet with grace and held out a hand. "Coming?"  
  
Inigo eyed the gap between the pathway and the roof with something between curiosity and unease. He had not been out and about, much less active, in a while. Lia was a very nimble fellow, and Inigo had always been. . . Perhaps a bit more clumsy outside battle than he might admit. He gave what he hoped was a confident glance up at Lia and then his eyes returned to the rooftop as he started forward, and then stopped right before jumping, recoiling a bit. "Um. If we are being honest, I am not entirely sure I can do this," he admitted slowly.  
  
"I've done it a thousand times. C'mon. If I thought you wouldn't make it, I wouldn't ask," Lia replied, ever sure of himself. He took a half step back from the edge, hand still outstretched, clearly ready to steady Inigo if the jump were to go poorly.  
  
Inigo allowed himself one more moment of hesitation before he nodded and leapt. For a moment he was certain that he was about to die. He was going to fall right down, snap his spine on a fencepost, and be gone forever! What a way to go! But then he was feeling the roof beneath his feet and a hand on his shoulder. He saw nothing. Had he shut his eyes before jumping? Experimentally, he tried to open them, and discovered that he had. It was Lia's hand on his shoulder, and indeed Lia was wearing a grin Inigo had never seen on him before. There was something more genuine to it than his usual roguish smirks. That hadn't been so hard at all, Inigo realised. They were both okay. The thought made him laugh, even if he was still nervous.  
  
Lia chuckled at Inigo's breathless laughter and kept a steady hand on his companion a moment longer. "See? What did I tell you?"  
  
"You were right! I cannot believe I just did that. Though I am still of the firm opinion that most of the time I belong on the ground." But Inigo was distracted in moments by the sudden shift in the sky. The sun was beginning to rise, and as it did, it cast endless warm hues across the sky. He took a step or two toward the far side of the roof, his face falling from humour to wonder. Lia had been right, too, to think he hadn't seen a sunrise in a long time. It was as beautiful as he remembered it. More beautiful, actually. ". . . And look at that."  
  
Lia nodded and came with him, sitting down on the roof with a sort of comfortable familiarity and after a moment tugging at Inigo's sleeve for him to do the same. It was the first time he'd showed any kind of real friendliness instead of vague discomfort and put-on charm. The two khajiit came to sit beside one another, their eyes turned toward a vast sunrise. There was silence for a while, the two of them admiring it in their own ways. Then Lia's eyes, cool blue as they were, cast toward Inigo's face. the moment held longer as Inigo didn't notice, and then Lia asked, "What are you thinking about?"  
  
Inigo looked almost surprised by the question for a second. It was the first time Lia had asked, but it would not be the last. He hadn't expected that Lia had any interest in his thoughts. But he was honest, because above all he was an honest cat. "I am thinking. . ." A pause. His eyes strayed from the sunrise and returned to his friend's face. "That I am finally remembering how much beauty there is in the world."

**Author's Note:**

> eliane was a character who i started off at around level 30 so i could stop playing through the first few quests in skyrim. i ended up falling in love with him far too quickly, and his friendship with inigo has latched onto my heart. it now refuses to let go. help.
> 
> inigo the brave belongs to gary hesketh, aka smartbluecat, who made the inigo companion mod. his work on this character is phenomenal and has restored skyrim's questionable gameplay and story to full magic for me. please go check it out if you'd like a brand new companion who will make your game lively and wonderful.


End file.
